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CNS office - Kane meets the counselor

Posted March 5, 2019, 10:21 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander Royal Sinclair (Counselor) (James Sinclair)

Posted by Ensign Kalani Kāne (Science Officer) in CNS office - Kane meets the counselor

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Royal Sinclair (Counselor) in CNS office - Kane meets the counselor

Posted by Ensign Kalani Kāne (Science Officer) in CNS office - Kane meets the counselor
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
snip
“Weellllll yeeeessss,” she drew out the word not expecting that response. Playing the therapy animal had always been an ace in the hole card. Few people questioned it and usually, the counselor’s ate that up when she said it. It was not that it was a total lie. Ralph did make her feel good and she always felt better when she talked to Ralph. Whether she needed Ralph daily from the moment she woke until the moment she went to sleep was a moot point. Kalani didn’t have the heart to lock him up and needed for Ralph to have unfettered access to all the places she was permitted to go. “I mean that colony thing traumatized me,” Kalani tried to keep her voice neutral as she lied her butt off. “However for fun maybe you can show me one of those psychological need for support documents. I am wondering if my form is up to date or not.”

Kalani Kane ensign

Sinclair cocked his head to the side, a sparkle forming in his blue eyes as his suspicion was confirmed. “Well, psych eval’s aren’t supposed to be ‘fun’, per se, so we will have to save that for later. In the meantime… you do know that transporting life forms off their homeworld without the proper permissions is an offence that could, hypothetically of course, put one in a prison colony. Right?”

Sinclair, CNS

“Of course,” she looked slightly offended. “I mean that is why native populations on a planet get overrun with aggressive species but Ralph came with papers. Check my file.” In her file was a letter stamped and certified by a Starfleet counselor proclaiming Ralph as an official therapy pet. “I know before you say anything that this seems a bit hinky,” Kalani admitted. “And it is to an extent. Fennec Foxes are not endangered but tend to not make the best pets. However, when you remove them from their kits too early they typically have a hard time reassimilating into the environment. I did not take him first. Jonas group did. With as prevalent as the foxes can be you just can’t dump him off into the wild without training. It was either take him or have him die on the planet. My thought was to bring him out and then renaturalize him but I am not sure that is going to ever happen. I got attached and so did he. I couldn’t save his litter back at the camp where they were slaughtered but i could save him. Seemed like a fair balance,” Kalani said.

Kalani Kane ensign

Sinclair looked at Kane with a cocked eyebrow. “ ‘Hinky’ is a good word for it, Ensign.” and he shook his head. “But the real issue you are going to run into isn’t Ralph. It’s the fact that you, instead of addressing him as a non-salient rescue, made him a therapy pet.”

Danger Will Robinson! Danger A voice sounded off inside her head. This counselor apparently listened and read things which were not two things she wanted to have in a counselor.

” Had you listed him as a rescue, you probably could have received special permission to keep him due to the bond he obviously has for you and the inability to return him to the wild.” and he chuckled good-naturedly and added “But you got clever. Now, as he is listed as a ‘therapy companion’, that means you have to have two things in your personnel record that you don’t have.

Please let it be that I am clearly crazy and that you are a too busy to do anything but pass it through, she thought almost wanting to clasp her hands in prayer. She knew it was a futile attempt but at this point, she had boxed herself in and there was no way in getting out.

“The first is a diagnosis of an emotional or mental complication that would require the use of a therapy animal.

Yay you got the crazy. Can we go with a trifecta and say I am getting that signature without coffee talk for the next six weeks, she cheered silently in her head.

“The second is a continuing record of counseling and treatment for that complication.” and he held up the PaDD in his hand with her record on it. “You don’t have either one. So… either you have an issue that you haven’t told me about but that…” and he looked at the PaDD and scrolled back a bit, “… Lieutenant Borensing knew about and failed to document when they signed off on Ralph, which is going to land them in a whole heap of hot water; or you tell me that you want to keep Ralph and you will do so the right way and I’ll put in a good word for you in that regard because I mean look at that guy.” and the big Scot smiled broadly at Ralph and wiggled his finger… but well away, just in case. “But if you want to keep him as a ‘therapy companion’, you are going to have to tell me why you have him. And then you and I will have to have regular counseling sessions to address the issue.” and he leaned back and placed his hands in his lap.

“I’ll leave the choice up to you, Ensign. I’ll work with you however I can. But if you need Ralph as more than a pet, it’s going to mean a whole other line of discussion between you and I. And a whole lot of training and certifications for Ralph.”

Sinclair, CNS

Kalani thought long and hard about her choice which for he lasted all of ten seconds in her mind. “My entire camp was slaughtered by smugglers. They shot everyone but missed me because I got caught up in the tent material. Actually, they shot me in the stomach and missed hitting me in the head. I woke up and found Ralph was the only other thing left in the camp but me. But....Buuuuuuuuuut,” Kalani held up a finger, “I am 100% psychologically vetted. I have zero issues from the event. I am an optimist by nature and don’t dwell on anything negative. Just get up, pull on your boots, and start each day fresh.” Kalani ran through her practiced litany with the vigor and determination that showed she was okay. “That should negate any need for therapy because the odds I am going to get caught up in tenting material on the ship is pretty much nil. As to Ralph…the therapy pet thing is just a pass for me to cart the little guy around. Jarred is building an enclosure but Ralph has never been left alone in the six months I have had him. He doesn’t like to be alone. Ask Jarred? I have not been anywhere without him except for that shore leave with Alindor and then it was only for a weekend so I can leave him but Ralph hated it,” she rambled. “So if you can just sign those papers the little guy will stay happy and I will be out of your hair,” she said proudly.

Ensign Kalani Kane.

Sinclair was a pretty easy-going person. He understood that people took risks to provide for their emotional safety, and to protect themselves from the feelings of loss and loneliness. He also understood the bond that surviving a traumatic event together could create between individuals and even individuals and animals. The easy-going part of him understood that…

Unfortunately for Ensign Kane, it wasn’t the easy-going Counselor that was now speaking to her. It was a Lieutenant Commander of Star Fleet. Setting the PaDD aside, he turned the device off. Royal’s face underwent a kind of metamorphosis. The friendly and relaxed features hardened. The jaw line seemed to transmute from flesh to stone. The small laugh lines near his eyes disappeared as the eyes narrowed and seemed to take on an internal fire. Setting his hands flat on his legs he looked at Kane with a look that seemed to be one part shock, one part insulted, and two parts barely controlled anger.

“Now let me get this straight… Ensign.” he said in a tone that seemed to make the air drop fifty degrees between the two of them. “You are asking me… a medical professional and and Lieutenant Commander in Star Fleet to knowingly and willfully falsify a required assessment in order for you to have a pet? You - an Ensign who is right now guilty of illegally transporting a non-registered biological life form onto a Star Fleet vessel - are asking me to lie for you? Is that what is happening here, Ensign Kane? You are seriously sitting there and suggesting that I… how did you put it… oh yes. I just ‘ just sign those papers’? What, like the last Counselor did?” and he looked at her with an intensity that seemed to hover on the edge of causing anything in his gaze to spontaneously burst into flame. Leaning forward slightly, his voice dropped to almost a whisper. “Do you think so little of this process that you honestly think we would just go through the motions? And do you think so little of me that you think I would lie on your behalf just so you can have your way? I even gave you not one, but two options on how you could do that within regulations, and your response was to tell me to lie for you? Ensign… I am almost speechless at your incredulity. And I am beyond horrified that you think I would just ‘sign the papers’ at your behest.” and he leaned back and his features seemed to relax, but not much.

Sinclair, CNS

Kalani pursed her lips and sighed heavily. Well this is going to hell in a handbasket she thought as she gathered the rest of her thoughts. “Lt. Commander Sinclair,” she said in a soft but respectful tone, “the initial documentation was signed off by my father who is a diplomat and a counselor. The animals are not illegal and are approved as are the rest of my menagerie in the storage closet that Jarred is converting into a vivarium for purposes of terraforming studies. It is not top secret news but several of us in the field are running extensive studies on how to re-terraform a surface of a class M world within the Romulan Star Empire. Now, this is not going to be like the Genesis Project from a hundred years ago but it is easiest to think of it that way only as a slower process. So Ralph is not illegal contraband.” Taking another deep breath she looked down.

“That, however, is not the point and I know full well what you are getting at,” she confessed. “You want me to say that at times I wake up at night and can’t move until I remember I am not alone and on a starship instead of a jungle. You want me to acknowledge that may be part of the reason I transferred here from the Ark Angel was that I felt partly responsible for what happened on that away mission. You want me to admit that maybe I have some attachment issues and I am not sure I am ready to open up to someone that could hurt me again. You are asking me to share that fact that tightly enclosed places can send me into a sense of panic so I tend to avoid anything space smaller than four feet by four feet. The thing is I know all this and you do too. Ralph is not a therapy pet but he is in a way. He is something I can focus my energy on and he is so damn cute,” she said finally getting a smile as she looked around trying to find the Fennec Fox. Her eyes got a bit wider as she found the little guy doing the arse up head down playing position as the fox stared down the small statue on the floor in the corner of Sinclair’s office. Obviously for all of Ralph’s intelligence a brass statue was the tipping point as he batting at it trying to get the thing to play back with him

“Sinclair I am well aware of my issues but there is no real way to ever get over anything unless you as a person decided it is time to move on and do something different. I could wallow in self-pity or let my fears paralyze me but I am not built that way. I met the chief engineer and shared a breakfast. I am not opposed to pursuing that if he is open to the idea but only a crazy woman shows up on someone’s door two minutes after they met them in the supply hold. I guess what I am saying is that I got this Lt. Commander Sinclair. It might not be what you’re used to. I am not the type to cry on people’s shoulder. I cry in a shuttle or the shower,” she gave him his first hint of a smile. “I take Ralph with me everywhere because seeing someone smile or be happy interacting with him reminds me that I have to look for my own happiness. I have to understand that no one is ever going to make me happy. I have to find happiness and hold on tight to it with both hands because I am the only one who can do it. Talking sharing, none of that is going to make a damn bit of difference if I don’t decide for myself how I want my life to be and take steps to make it happen. So yes please sign off whatever you need to. Make any changes you need to but know that am trying to move on and this,” she pointed at Ralph from across the room, “this is my reminder every day that life is good and solid and ready to give me everything i want from it as long as I am willing to accept it.”

Ensign Kalani Kane science

Sinclair listened, but remained… tense. When Kane finished, he looked at her intently for a few moments. He then set the PaDD aside and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “But you see, that is an issue you need to address. You are saying that you need a constant reminder to be happy. That isn’t a good thing, Ensign… for you or Ralph. It places yo in awkward positions… like this, for instance… and it puts an enormous burden on Ralph. A burden that he may not know he has, but is there nonetheless. And I do not think you want or intend that, do you?” and he leaned back and looked at her.

Sinclair, CNS

“You misunderstand or maybe I presented my view inaccurately. I just mean Ralph reminds me life goes on and I am by nature a happy person,” Kalani looked at him a bit confused. “Heck I might even have a dark horse in the running for a boyfriend,” she laughed. “Besides Ralph is clueless. He has two needs: food and napping. As long as I give him half the bed at night he’s happy with me but I do understand what you are talking about but I can assure you that I am fine. If you doubt it give me a month okay? I will come back and if you are not convinced then we can figure out what to do then. It’s just been a long day. This is my third check in and I spent four hours at the supply center getting my materials which is where I met the CE. Maybe I am just a tad punchy due to lack of sleep.”

Ensign Kalani Kane science

Sinclair looked at her in silence until he said “Ok. Let’s chalk this up to a very long day. But I am not letting off the hook, Ensign. Once you get settled, I want you to come back. And bring Ralph. Lets say…” and he picked up the PaDD and looked at it scrolling through upcoming appointments, “… three days from now. 1000 hours. Until then, I want you to think about why you feel the need to have Ralph so close by. Having a pet is a healthy thing to do… but not necessarily on a star ship. But if you are going to have him, I want to make sure it is good for you… and Ralph. Ok, Ensign?”

Sinclair, CNS

“Sir you and I are going to be great friends,” Kalani agreed whole heartedly to his plans, recommendations, and requirements. “I’ll see you in three days,” she said with a grin.

Ensign Kalani Kane science

“You both will.” he said with a wink to Ralph. “But I expect some significant self-reflection. If you try to blow this off, I will not be happy. Understood?” the big man asked with a look that said he was satisfied with the tenor the conversation had come to, but he was still adamant that this be done correctly.

Sinclair, CNS


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